Read Online Murder in the Rose Garden: A Scent with Love Cozy Mystery (Scent with Love Cozy Mysteries) by Tabitha Tate - Free Book Online

to close the shop. Beth fetched the
remaining buckets of flowers on the sidewalk and cashed up the register. Beth’s
stomach was a ball of nerves and she couldn’t shake the feeling that Piper Pots
and the sheriff were in danger. She took out her purse and searched for Chase’s
card, picked up her cell phone and punched in his number. She waited
impatiently as his phone rang a few times before going to voicemail.
    “Hi, you
have reached Chase Crawford. Please leave your name and number and I will get
back to you.”
    Beth was so nervous she
almost felt a pang of relief at the sound of his deep husky voice on the other
end of the line.
    Beth hung up
the phone in frustration and went to search by the telephone for the number of
the police department. She found a list of emergency numbers pasted up on the
side of the telephone cabinet next to the phone. The number for the Bartholomew
Bay Police Department was at the top of the list. She picked up the phone and
dialed the number.
    A shrill
female voice answered. “Hello, Bartholomew Bay Police Department, please state
your emergency.” Beth gulped down the panic in her throat.
    “Can I speak
to Sheriff Hunter please?”
    The female
voice sounded annoyed. “Is this an emergency?”
    “I need to
speak to Sheriff Hunter urgently regarding his sting operation at the harbor
this evening,” replied Beth.
    “I’m afraid
he is not in at the moment. I am not sure what you mean by sting operation; he
left early today to make preparations for an important dinner function this
evening.”
    “Could you
call the sheriff on his cell phone and ask him to call me back please. It’s
Beth Andrews from the Scent with Love flower shop.”
    “I’ll give
him your message,” the woman replied but Beth got the feeling that she hadn’t
taken her seriously at all.
    Beth put
down the phone and looked down at the desk. There was another Post-it note with
a message for her: Mr. Dunne called again, please call him back .
    Beth stuck
the Post-it in her purse and promised herself that she would phone Mr. Dunne in
the morning. Beth closed up the shop and drove back to the guesthouse.
    ~
    When Beth
got to the cottage she took a shower and made herself a bowl of grilled chicken
salad. She still could not shake the feeling that the sheriff and Piper were in
danger. She had no idea what time the drug boat would be coming in but she
figured it would be after seven because that was when the last of the fishing
boats usually came in.
    Beth called
Chase again but he still wasn’t answering his phone so she left him a message.
    “Hi, Chase,
now I know you are not going to like this but… I overheard a conversation
between Jack and Mrs. Blackwood today that has led me to believe that the sheriff
and Piper are in danger. I tried calling the sheriff to let him know but the
woman who took my call didn’t take me seriously so I am going to the harbor to
try and warn him. Call me when you get this. Bye.”
    Beth got
dressed in black jeans, a long-sleeved black polo neck and a black woolen hat.
She put on a pair of comfortable sneakers in case she needed to make a quick
getaway on foot. She had a small pistol Andrew had bought her to use for
protection when he was away on business. Beth had never used it and she was
hoping she would not be needing it tonight but she tucked it into her sock
anyway. Just in case. Beth filled a thermos with warm coffee, got into her car
and drove out to the marina.
    Beth drove
past the marina located next to the Fisherman’s Wharf hotel and restaurant
building and drove on towards the industrial part of the harbor with large
rusty warehouse buildings and the working dry dock. There were hundreds of
shipping containers stacked in rows, one on top of the other. The dark
silhouette of the shipping cranes stood idle with no one on the evening shift
to operate them. This looks like the perfect place for a sting operation, thought
Beth , just like in the movies.
    She parked
her car